Deviant: No Longer Human

"A what?"

The guard outside her door didn't answer right away. He just input the code at the digital panel beside her cell. A faint hiss of hydraulic release followed.

Her cell door remained closed, but the message was clear.

"Get up. You're wanted."

She slowly pushed the blanket off. Sat up on the edge of her cot.

A visitor?

After all these years?

Who still remembers me?

Or worse… who finally found me?

She stood barefoot on the cold floor, shoulders relaxed but spine straight—as if the years of confinement hadn't dulled her at all.

From her side, a flicker of something old stirred behind her gaze.

So... it begins again.

"Enjoying your stay?"

The voice slithered through the darkness like smoke, mocking, and too amused for a prison.

The heavy iron door creaked open, not from force, but as if simply responding to the will of the man standing behind it.

Crack…

Inside, Lin Xue turned sharply, instinctively retreating into the shadows. Her bare feet scuffed against the cold floor.

Her eyes, once bright like polished obsidian, now looked foggy, haunted.

"W–Who…?"

Wang Xiao stepped forward, half-shadowed by the flickering hallway light.

She stared at him like a deer facing a hunter. Something about his presence pressed into her skin.

Familiar, and frightening.

But she couldn't place it.

She blinked. Then again.

Why do I know that voice?

She glanced behind him—there was a girl. Tall, slightly awkward, definitely confused.

Who are they?

Is this it? Are they finally going to end it?

Wang Xiao paused, scanning her face with the cold interest of someone examining a broken statue.

"Tsk. And here I thought memory loss only came after enlightenment."

She flinched.

He stepped closer, head tilting.

"Don't recognize me? Not even a flicker? Not even a cheap soap opera flashback?"

Lin Xue slowly shook her head. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"I… I don't know you."

"Ah. Excellent." He clapped once, mock-cheerful. "That saves me some long-winded speeches."

Zhang Sisi furrowed her brows, looking from him to the prisoner.

"Wait, you knew her?"

"Knew?" Wang Xiao chuckled dryly. "That's a strong word. Let's just say she was once relevant enough."

Lin Xue's breath caught.

Relevant?

Wang Xiao turned to Sisi now, his tone suddenly lighter, playful.

"See, someone wise once told me women like her aren't worth going back for. They said I should've left her to rot."

He gently touched Zhang Sisi's shoulder, as if ready to guide her back out.

"So, let's go. Abandoning her sounds refreshingly poetic, no?"

Zhang Sisi blinked.

"You're kidding, right? We just got here!"

"Exactly," he replied. "Long enough to confirm she's not worth the second trip."

He gave Lin Xue another look. This time, his eyes stayed.

"And look at her. Aged like spoiled wine. Not even the fun kind that makes you hallucinate."

Lin Xue opened her mouth but said nothing.

Wang Xiao stepped closer again, lowering his voice just a notch.

"Funny, isn't it? You once told me I wasn't enough. That I was just a boy playing at greatness."

"But now… look at you."

"Thin. Forgotten. Locked in a box."

His eyes darkened.

"And I? I became what I said."

He turned again to leave, flicking imaginary dust from his shoulder.

"Come on, Sisi. If she doesn't remember me, maybe she doesn't deserve to."

But before he could step out.

"Wait—"

It was faint, raspy.

Lin Xue's voice.

Wang Xiao stopped mid-step.

Without turning, he answered:

"Ah. There it is. The desperation. Took you long enough."

A broken breath followed behind him.

"I-It's… it's you…"

Lin Xue's voice cracked like old porcelain. Her hands gripped the sides of the rusted cot behind her for support, knuckles white from strain. Her knees buckled slightly.

And then, "Cough… cough… You little bastard…"

A whisper of a laugh, rough and hollow.

"When… when did you grow so big…? Cough…"

She staggered, almost falling, but the shackles on her ankles clinked taut, stopping her collapse. Her body swayed like a dying willow, thin arms trembling.

Wang Xiao finally turned, just a little. Enough to glance at her over his shoulder.

"Charming. You remember me just in time to curse me. That's so very you."

Zhang Sisi watched silently from the side, her expression a mix of confusion and curiosity.

Lin Xue coughed again, this time harder. Her eyes were red from more than just strain, was it dust, or regret?

"I… I thought you died," she rasped.

Wang Xiao arched a brow, folding his arms casually.

"Don't act surprised by your own success, I never expected you to to down and butcher the mayor or someone either?"

"..." Lin Xue bit her lip, she indeed went jail for it.

"Why have you came here?" She straighned her waist, as if getting sudden strength, if she had a cigarette, she might as well smoke, she chuckled half hearted, "You couldn't have just came here to mock me? You don't even like the overly riped one?"

Her eyes went to Zhang Sisi who felt this rule was something else, which she didn't quite understand.

Wang Xiao raised an eyebrow. "Still the same, pretending."

Lin Xue tilted her head. Her voice came softer now, but with a razor just beneath it.

"You didn't answer me. Why did you come?"

Wang Xiao didn't respond right away. He stepped further into the cell, stopping just close enough for her to feel the weight of his presence.

Then he said simply:

"Curiosity."

She scoffed.

"You? Curious?"

Wang Xiao's lips curled into a thin smile.

"If I said I could set you free… would you get on your knees and beg?"

He asked it without expectation, just to watch her flinch.

Lin Xue narrowed her eyes, and exhaled a tired huff.

"Tch... Go away, kid. I'm not in the mood for games today."

She waved him off with a flick of her hand, like brushing away a fly.

'Seriously? All this posturing. Does he still think I'm his slut who played games with him in middle school?'

After all she'd seen, after rotting in this cell for years, the idea of death was easier to accept than the illusion of freedom.

Wang Xiao didn't push the topic. Instead, his next words cut sideways:

"What about your assets? I went through the records. Why did you name everything to Chen Meili?"

"!!"

Lin Xue's body stiffened.

Her heart skipped, 'He knows...?'

Her gaze drifted up, locking with his, then dropped again, almost guiltily.

"How is that your business?" she snapped. "Did you want them? Too late. They're gone. Should've crawled back from the dead a little sooner."

The last sentence slipped out a bit too quickly, like a jab masking desperation. As if, somehow, part of her had been waiting.

Waiting for him.

Waiting for things to turn out differently.

Wang Xiao lit a cigarette.

"Should've," he echoed softly.

He nodded to himself.

Yes. He could've returned earlier.

But then what?

Beg for scraps?

Live on the run?

He took a slow drag, the smoke curling around his expressionless face.

Power comes with sacrifice.

He wasn't here to argue about the past. He had another question.

"What's your connection to Fu Yuxin? Why did you ask Chen Meili to look after her?"

Lin Xue's brow twitched.

"So… you remember her?"

She gave a dry laugh.

"Wasn't that because of you? If you hadn't taken her to my place and assaulted her, would I have needed to send her hush money?"

Wang Xiao stared at her.

"...You're lying."

She was twisting the truth again, quick as ever.

He knew the real story. The money came later. It was Chen Meili who inherited her fortune and, upon Lin Xue's request, began supporting Fu Yuxin. The twist? The two had somehow ended up raising Zhenxi together.

After digging into their past, he'd found the connecting thread.

Inheritance.

And who did it originally belong to?

Lin Xue.

As if she'd planned everything, left pieces in motion long before the board was ever set.

His gaze sharpened.

Hers faltered.

Thump...thump....

Her heartbeat quickened.

She couldn't tell how much he knew.

And that terrified her.

Slap!

Lin Xue hadn't expected it, her face rang with sudden pain, her body stumbling backward before she crashed into the wall.

"Wh—"

Zhang Sisi gasped, covering her mouth in shock, she hadn't seen it coming.

No one did.

Wang Xiao clicked his tongue in frustration.

"You really don't know when to stop, do you?" he said, "Even now, with everything laid bare, you keep lying."

His voice echoed, sharp, and dangerous.

He strode forward, calm but cold, like violence was second nature.

Lin Xue barely had time to recover before he was already beside her, gripping her by the collar as he raised the still-burning cigarette.

Without a word, he pressed the ember against her arm.

Hiss~!

"Agh!" She winced hard.

A sharp breath escaped her lips, but she didn't scream.

Just grit her teeth.